I picked up the knife from the ground and ran for Ichiro. He glanced towards me and my heart dropped. I wasn't close enough, he was definitely going to dodge it. But he didn't. I saw surprise flash across his face as the blade sunk into flesh. Ichiro let out a short gasp. Mayu's lifeless body hit the ground with a thud as he released his grip and I took a step back still not sure what happened.

The hand I used to hold the knife was covered in blood and Ichiro stood swaying to his side, a fatigued expression on his face. He pulled the knife out of the wound and fell down on his knees coughing blood. The sound of the knife clattering on the floor shook me awake and I jumped up alert. What the hell was I doing? I had to get out of here before he recovered.

I saw Ichiro giving me a deathly glare behind the streaks of brown hair falling over his eyes before his eyes drooped and he collapsed on the ground, unconscious. I guess I must had hit something important because he stayed motionless on the ground. I waited a full minute staring at his unmoving body before clambering towards Mayu. My legs were shaking uncontrollably and my face was covered in sweat. It was the first time I had actually hurt someone seriously in my life. I could still remember the gruesome feeling of the steel blade sinking into flesh.

Mayu was laying face first down on the floor with her hair covering her face. I could see her hand stretched out towards the knife that she had dropped even when she was unconscious. I guess it must had been important.

I picked up her knife and turned back to Mayu thinking about what to do. I shook my head, mustered my courage and turned her body over carefully so that she wasn't lying face first. Her head tilted towards me and I felt my heart skip a beat. She was actually pretty cute and I fell in a hypnotised trance staring at her slightly parting lips.

"H-hey, are you ok?" I croaked. My voice was dry. She didn't reply and her eyes didn't open. I passed a hand over her nose. Breathing. She was still alive. I let out a sigh of relief.

I glanced behind me at Ichiro's unconscious body and back at Mayu. It was obvious that I had to get us out of here. There was no telling what Ichiro might do to us when he wakes up. It was simply a stroke of luck that I had somehow managed to even get close to him with the knife. I was still dazzled as to why I was still alive and not lying on the ground in two separate pieces. I thought he was definitely going to dodge my attack.

I washed the blood from my hands at the kitchen sink before I pulled Mayu onto my back, picking up her knife with me. I left by the front door, closing the door behind me and headed back to my apartment. I wondered where Luna was. The sun was setting and there were people walking around in the streets. I felt the eyes of passerbys as I walked from street to street carrying Mayu on my back.

When I got back to my apartment, I closed the door behind me and turned on the lights. Luna wasn't here and it didn't seem like she had stopped by either. Everything was exactly where I had left it. I let out a sigh of relief and walked into my bedroom, laying Mayu down on my bed gently. She was surprisingly light even though she was so strong. I could hardly believe that this girl had actually pinned me against the wall with a single hand.

I went to the living room and placed the knife down on the kitchen counter. It resembled a dagger of some sort and it was in a strangely sculpted silver casing. The handle was designed elegantly to fit petite fingers. I tried gripping it. Nope, it didn't fit my hand.

I felt something trickling down my back and I touched it, looking at my hand to see what it was. Blood. I ran back into my room and looked at Mayu then down at her leg. I had completely forgotten the wound that Ichiro had given her when she slipped on her jump.

Blood was beginning to soak up the spot where her leg laid. I felt my stomach curling at the sight of blood but I swallowed and dashed to the bathroom, returning with some disinfectants and a bunch of bandages.

I sprayed the disinfectant on the open gash, wincing as I did so before wiping the wound down with a towel. It was a deep cut. I wrapped the bandages around her leg and marvelled at my handiwork. I had no idea whether I should call an ambulance or not. The blood was slowing down and I suddenly envisioned back when Luna had cut herself and urged me strongly not to call the hospital.

Mayu was breathing heavily in long puffs and her face was hot. I could see sweat trickling down her face. I placed a hand down on her forehead and jumped back in surprise. She was burning.

I grabbed an icepack from the kitchen fridge and placed it over her head in desperation. This wasn't looking good. I had no idea what I was doing and I wasn't a medical expert. Maybe I should call Eiji for help… No good. He would want an explanation and I didn't want to drag him along with me into this mess. It was enough that I had gotten myself into this trouble.

After the icepack had melted, Mayu was still sweating all over her body and I could see it beginning to soak into my bed. I had a plan at the back of my mind that I didn't want to use but there was no choice now. I picked her up from the bed and took her to the bathroom, my heart pounding against my chest.

I laid her body down on the floor of the bathroom before drawing a deep breath to calm myself down. Relax, Ryo. This was for medical purposes only. I closed my eyes and removed her clothes trying my best not to touch anywhere unnecessary. What the hell was I doing? Seriously. Here I was stripping an unconscious girl naked in the floor of my bathroom. It was hard not to feel like a perverted freak.

When it was all done, I lifted her body up and placed her gently in the bathtub still taking careful measures to avoid her privates. I felt my face growing red as my hand made contact with her naked skin, she felt so fragile and her skin seemed flawlessly smooth despite the scratches on her body. She was covered in sweat from head to toe and I felt the heat radiating from her. When I managed to get her into the bathtub, I turned on the cold water.

Her face sank halfway down the water with a painful expression. Her breathing started slowing down and I grabbed a towel, wiping her face clean. Her temperature was beginning to drop now and I could see her body relaxing. Thank god. I grabbed her old clothes and left the apartment, throwing them in the washing room downstairs.

I returned back to my apartment and pulled some of my clothes from the drawer. There really wasn't a choice. Her old clothes were covered in blood. I went back into the bathroom and carried Mayu out of the bathtub with my eyes closed, setting her down on a chair. I got a towel to wipe her clean before pulling a shirt over her head and a pair of shorts.

I almost even felt satisfied with the feat I had accomplished. I carried Mayu back to my bedroom, changing the stained sheets before laying her down. I was about to leave the room when I heard a soft cough coming from the bed.

I turned around and found myself staring into Mayu's eyes. Her light blue hair still damp fell over her emerald eyes and she was sitting up on the bed with half her face covered by the blanket she held to her face.

"You saved me…" She trailed off, her voice slightly muffled behind the blankets. Her eyes stared fixedly into mine and my brain seemed to hit a blank as I realised the reality of the situation. I had kidnapped a girl, taken her into my house, stripped her naked, gave her a shower and dressed her in my clothes. I felt very guilty all of a sudden.

"I-I didn't look." I blurted out.

She looked at me confused then down under her blankets. I saw her face turning red. She lowered a hand under her clothes looking for something. Apparently it wasn't there because she turned back to me cowering more of her face behind the blankets. I could see her face blushing wildly and her eyes seemed to refuse to look into mine.

"D-did you…?" She said pulling the blankets closer towards her.

"I uh… well your body was really hot." I answered without really thinking. Mayu's face grew even redder. It took me a few seconds before I realised the gravity of my words. "No, I mean your temperature-"

I heard a knock from the door and I let out my breath in relief. Now I can buy some time to think how I was going to explain the whole mess.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"Wait a second, I'll get the door." I told Mayu, turning around. I walked to the door and unlocked it. "Who is-"

My eyes met a pair of violet eyes and I felt my breath waver. Luna stood in front of me wearing a short dress and her hair was tied up neatly.

"L-Luna…" I said looking at her bewildered.

"Ryo." Luna said tilting her head with a cheerful smile on her face. "Don't worry about yesterday, I was just joking."

I didn't know what to say. I found myself grasping for words. Mayu was in my bedroom right now.

"Jeez." Luna frowned looking up at me. "Are you going to let me in or what?"

"Uh."

She walked past me and I turned around. "Wait!"

Mayu was standing by my bedroom door with the blankets wrapped around her and Luna stopped.

Mayu looked at Luna for a split second then she dashed towards the kitchen counter throwing the blankets onto the ground. Luna sprinted forward, her hand pulling out a knife from behind her skirt. I heard a sharp flick as Luna pulled the blade out and she leaped forward throwing the blade towards Mayu's neck.

Mayu slammed the counter and her encased dagger flew up in the air towards her, she caught it and managed to block Luna's blade by a mere inch away from her neck. She pushed Luna back against her blade and unsheathed her dagger before jumping over Luna, landing at a safe distance away.

The bandages on Mayu's leg had fallen loose but I could see the wound was already resealing after only a few hours.

"What are you doing with Ryo, Mayu?" Luna asked darkly. "Do you want to die?"

"Ryo?" Mayu repeated. She looked at me then back at Luna. "Is he your boyfriend?"

Luna stayed silent but her eyes scanned the room, seemingly to study the environment.

"Ryo doesn't like you." Mayu said. Luna's concentration broke and she looked up at Mayu.

"Y-you're wrong."

Mayu walked towards me slowly, her eyes on Luna. "Ryo was sleeping with me while you were gone."

"W-what?!" I said.

"It's true." Mayu said with a playful smile, then she pointed at her clothes. "He undressed me and saw everything."

"That's not true..." Luna's voice faltered. Her grip on the knife loosened.

"Why do you think I'm wearing his clothes?" Mayu stood next to me, she leaned her head towards me and I saw her lips moving close.

Luna bolted towards us at an insane speed. Mayu pushed me out of the way just in time and I fell backwards on the floor while she stepped to the side avoiding Luna's attack. Mayu jumped out of the way of another of Luna's strike and landed on the top of my kotatsu table. I could see her wincing and I realised that her leg had not actually recovered yet. The wound had reopened and blood was seeping out of it as a result of her rapid movement.

Luna charged forward again and Mayu fended off multiple strikes while twirling her dagger around her.

"You're not a very good fighter when you're angry, Luna." Mayu said. I saw blood fly in the air along with Luna's knife and Luna let out a cry as she jumped backwards holding onto the hand she had held her knife with. I could see a small cut across the top of her fingers. The knife landed with a clatter on the ground next to Luna.

Luna slowly raised her fingers to her nose and sniffed it. "Cyanide."

"Bingo." Mayu winked. "A small cut like that wouldn't faze people of our calibre but if absorbed enough, cyanide will interfere with the red cells ability to extract oxygen leading to internal asphyxia."

"Naturally nothing much would happen at first but you'll soon notice every breath you take getting harder and harder. Muscle movement stiffens, dizziness and convulsions can follow." Mayu stared at Luna with an unforgiving look. "Eventually even breathing gets too hard, moving would be simply impossible and at the end you'll be clawing at your neck for air."

I was jolted by the memory of Ichiro's surprise when I was running for him. He wasn't surprised that I was charging at him, he was surprised that he couldn't move, perhaps he had realised he wasn't even breathing. If Mayu hadn't slipped on that jump, it was possible that she could have been the one to kill Ichiro.

Luna walked back to her knife picking it up with her left hand. Her right hand where she was cut had turned pale.

"Ryo." Luna said staring away from me. "You didn't sleep with her, right?"

"No, I didn't..." I replied.

Luna's eyes grew back to its vivid violet and I saw Mayu's emerald eyes glowing in response. They stared at each other in silence for a while. Luna was the one to move first. She dashed forward poising her knife close to her face with the blade pointing downwards. She unleashed the blade forward and Mayu deflected it with her dagger, pulling the blades towards Luna's side.

Luna twisted to her side throwing the knife across her shoulder, Mayu ducked under the blade and jabbed her dagger forward in repetitive successions. Luna swayed from side to side, dodging the strikes as she moved forward pressuring Mayu against the wall. I saw Mayu stumbling on her own feet as Luna rained a volley of strikes at Mayu, all of which were aimed at vital points.

Mayu tried to step past Luna's side but Luna cut her short sending her knife out at Mayu's shoulder. I saw her wincing in pain as blood splattered down onto the floor. Luna continued to pressure her against the wall with a relentless barrage of slashes. I could see Mayu beginning to wear down and her movements were getting slower as she was forced to move back with her injured leg.

On the last step before she hit the wall, Mayu jumped towards the wall and used it as a stepping block to push herself over Luna. She managed to pull Luna down by her shoulders midway in the jump making her trip over. As soon as Mayu landed, she stabbed her knife down at Luna's head but Luna managed to roll away just in time.

Luna pushed herself off the ground and jumped at Mayu whirling her blade across her. She was cut on the back by the attack and I heard Mayu let out a muffled cry. Luna didn't stop, she landed gracefully at Mayu's side and continued pursuing Mayu against the wall.

The sound of metal clashing filled the air as their blades collided endlessly. Although Mayu was faster than Luna, Luna could predict her movements easily controlling the flow of the fight. Luna threw a feint at Mayu's shoulder and used her evasion to slash out at Mayu's neck. Mayu barely managed to stop her movement in time to swing her head out of the attack.

She was barely avoiding most of Luna's attack whereas Luna twirled her body gracefully past Mayu's strikes with ease. Luna threw a kick towards Mayu's side catching her off guard and sent her flying towards the wall. She crashed against the wall and I saw her coughing blood on impact.

Luna swung herself towards Mayu before she had a chance to recover. Mayu slipped her blade from hand to hand deflecting Luna's attack. Luna was using only one hand to overpower her. Mayu slipped on her injured leg and Luna took advantage of her mistake to pull her forward cutting her wrist.

Mayu pushed herself away, retreating from Luna's assault and looked down at her wounded hand. It was a short cut on her wrist but Mayu had a horrified expression on her face.

"There are other ways to immobilise the human body." Luna said. "Severing the link between the wrist muscles and hand for example."

I saw Luna bolting forward again and Mayu weaved away from another cut at her neck just in time. Eventually Mayu tripped over as she was stepping backwards away from more impending blows and Luna shot her knife at Mayu's neck again. This time she made a slight cut on the side of Mayu's neck as Mayu tried to roll away from the strike.

Luna ran forward slashing every stroke of her knife at Mayu's neck. She dodged the cuts but her own attacks were not even close to connecting. I was certain now that Luna knew precisely what Mayu was going to do.

Mayu jumped back towards me, her legs shaking and Luna dashed forward. Blood flew in the air and Mayu fell down on her back with a painful cry. I saw her dagger fling across the room stabbing itself into the wall.

Mayu had lost.